


It Started With A Smile

by VeryLateTrash



Category: Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, M/M, Mentions of Cancer, happy ending I promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-07 04:02:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16846726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeryLateTrash/pseuds/VeryLateTrash
Summary: It started with Ewing's sarcoma, a sort of cancer that formed in the connective tissue, though in Foggy's case it was the bone, in his hip and could very easily spread to his chest. Terribly malignant. Rare in full adults. Treatable, yes, but due to the lack of cases, had very little specific examples to derive from.





	It Started With A Smile

It started with a headache. 

But not just any kind of headache. It was easily classified as a migraine, stretching from Foggy's temple to the back of his head. It made the very back of his eyes ache.

The first nights he got them, Foggy pushed it aside, decided it was stress and nothing more. It'd be okay, really. He'd take some Tylenol and go to bed. Get that case done in the morning at work. 

And for the longest time, Foggy expected that to happen. For it to just...go away after some time. 

He was wrong.

Did he say it started with a headache? No, no, he mistook that. It really had to have started with the pain in his side. The aching in his hip, sometimes creeping up into his stomach. It felt as if he were being punched repeatedly, as if someone were to grab him by the stomach and twist. 

A stomachache? Maybe he just ate something bad. Yeah, that was it. He ate something that wasn't any good and he'd be paying the price for a few days. 

It started with the concerned expression on Karen's face.

She could see him as he came in, giving his regular friendly wave. She could see the pain behind his eyes. Maybe they were starting to come in front. He could never be sure anymore. 

He would walk into work and she'd throw him a sympathetic look. Offer him a couple of donuts or a coffee. 

It started with the loss of appetite. 

Foggy was a healthy eater. Usually, at least. Before it started.

But with the vomiting and the pains that were constant in his hip, he just couldn't find it within himself to eat. Even his favorite foods, (pork, beef, chicken, yum), were just unappealing to him. Even the smells of food made him sick.

It started with the smell.

Foggy winced when he went to Matt one day and his friend stiffened. His nose did that thing it did when there was something he didn't like, something dangerous. Foggy was becoming dangerous.

He was a danger to himself. He couldn't breathe. Foggy knew he was starting to smell and feel like death.

It started with death.

That's how those serious talks with doctors always went, didn't they? Always: here's a list of all the possible things you might have, the worst of them being the most probable. Foggy could die. He could...He could...He couldn't breathe.

It started with telling his friends.

It started with telling Karen.

She'd be the easiest to tell. She could help him through this, cry with him, she could help him tell Matt. 

It still wasn't easy. Nothing would be easy anymore. 

Foggy walked into the firm just as always, a thin smile pressed to his face, (someone passing by commented how he just looked like death, poor thing), and he went to her, still trying to smile. He wanted this to be okay. He didn't want it to start. It started with-No, no, stay in the moment, Foggy, you need to tell her. 

He let out a shaky breath and maybe that's where Karen knew. Maybe she'd known all along in a way. Of course, she couldn't possibly know what it was, but...damn, was that girl intuitive. She knew something was going on. And so she asked him. Is everything okay? Was it? Would anything really be okay again?

Foggy caught himself from falling to his knees, but couldn't stop the tears from doing the same. Somewhere along the lines the word cancer had been said and somewhere along the line Karen had started crying with him. Somewhere along the line Matt must've heard. 

It started with Matt's hug.

An embrace that would never get old. Both hands on his lower back, pulling him closer than he ever had before. Foggy didn't see Matt cry much, but he knew he felt tears against him. 

It started with Foggy being strong for the both of them.

The firm was closed sometime during that day. Karen had driven them to the hospital, Matt in the back with Foggy leaning against him. That much had never changed. That had stayed the same since it all started.

He was checked in, examined again and again until there wasn't a doubt in any doctor's mind of what it was. 

It started with Ewing's sarcoma, a sort of cancer that formed in the connective tissue, though in Foggy's case it was the bone, in his hip and could very easily spread to his chest. Terribly malignant. Rare in full adults. Treatable, yes, but due to the lack of cases, had very little specific examples to derive from. 

It became real in that moment, with Matt's hand on his shoulder and Karen's covering one of his. It became so much more real before because this meant there was no other explanation. This meant he had people he could leave behind. He had family. He had friends. He had his career. 

Foggy couldn't breathe.

He couldn't do anything. 

Frozen, he registered Karen's crying, and Matt's hand on his shoulder moved to rest on his cheek as if to wipe away any tears. Except that Foggy couldn't cry.

It started with being hospitalized for good.

It started with chemotherapy. 

It started with him losing his hair and finally crying because dammit that was a part of him that was already dead. 

It started with him losing too much weight too fast. Foggy had always liked the way he was. Soft and warm. A chubby quality that made his face full and his clothes filled out in a way that made him feel nice about himself. He loved that part of him. 

And he lost that, just like everything else. He felt smaller and more miserable than ever before. 

The highlights of his days in the hospital were when he was able to get out of his room. They had kids there, too, as sad as that was to think about. He loved being able to go down and just make them laugh with his dumb jokes and Star Wars or Disney impressions. It brought a certain level of fulfillment to an otherwise bleak life.

Karen visited often. She'd bring books or some of his favorite movies to watch with him, laughing at his witty comments that he'd made about them a thousand times. She brought flowers, too, though they died after a couple of weeks. It was still a nicer smell to have than the overwhelming scent of chemicals. Maybe he'd actually tell her about the dumb crush he used to have on her back when they'd first met. It'd really bring things full circle in his mind.

Matt tried to visit all he could. In secrecy a long time ago, he'd told Foggy about how he hated the atmosphere of hospitals. How much the chemicals and the buzz of the fluorescents bothered him. It meant that much more to Foggy that he came because of that. He knew how much Matt struggled with his senses. 

Their time together was always the quietest. Matt would sit at his bedside or even sometimes in bed with him to the best of his ability. One arm over Foggy's shoulders, a leg curled over him. When did they start holding hands? The line had started to blur at some point, but he wouldn't ever complain. Matt grounded him, made him a better person, he felt. It made him secure. 

It started with Matt falling asleep with Foggy, curled up next to him, holding his hand, (this was definitely just typical bro things, Foggy reminded himself). Matt's lips were practically resting on his cheek and it took everything he had to not make the connection. As much as Foggy had liked Karen some time ago, he knew he was in love with Matt. His heart pounded whenever he saw him, and he knew Matt could hear it. Everything about him made Foggy ache to just tell him.

Even on his deathbed, Foggy couldn't disturb their friendship. 

It started with healing. 

There was a turnaround somewhere. In between sessions of chemo and bedrest, Foggy had at some point started to get better. 

He could finally cry. 

Franklin P. Nelson was starting to go to less sessions, had to be x-ray'd on fewer occasions, could get out of bed more. The vomiting weaned in and out, but at least he could eat a decent meal again. He'd have to earn his weight back and his hair would take time to grow back, but hey, he could always just rock that old beanie style from college!

It started with going home. 

His brother came to pick him up this time. Checking out of the hospital was an ordeal, but the good sort of one. Some of the kids he'd spoken with were still there to give him a goodbye. One thing he promised to himself was that he'd come back to visit them. Just to make them laugh, if nothing else. 

Theo helped him get things sorted out back at his apartment. He was supposed to still be on bedrest for a couple of weeks, (more if symptoms started up again), but the way Foggy saw it was that it was more than necessary for him to go back to work. 

Just this one day and then he'd follow doctor's orders. He could be a bit of a daredevil, too, you know? 

He walked through the city, sporting an old suit that was now too big, but he swore he'd fill in in the next couple of months. He had to. Foggy wore one of those flat caps to cover up the short hair just growing in. His hair grew fast; it'd be okay in just a little while, too. 

High noon. Karen and Matt would be just about to go to lunch anytime now. He could go for a sandwich or two. Foggy opened the door to the firm, giving Karen a warm smile just as he would any other day, "Hey, Karen, still have any coffee for me?" 

He should've known her initial reaction would be to hug him. He'd do the same in her situation. Hug until you couldn't feel your arms and then hug even more. "Woah, Kare, I'm still a recovering patient here," he laughed a little.

When she pulled back, there were tears in her eyes, but she was smiling wide. "You're really here?" 

Foggy couldn't help but return the sentiment, "It's the one and only, Franklin P-"

"-Franklin Percy Nelson, how dare you be completely okay without telling me first?" 

(It started with hearing his smooth voice. That's when Foggy had really started falling for him.)

Matt didn't need to pretend. No cane. No odd explanation for how he'd heard their hushed voices through several walls. He just walked forward and, for what could be the first time in their history as friends, initiated their hug. Foggy laughed, burying his face in the crook of Matt's neck. 

"You're really okay?" Matt had taken a toll, Foggy could see now. His voice was even and low as always, but there were his telltale signs of nervousness. The closeness, the careful fiddling with Foggy's silk lining on his jacket, the fact he wasn't wearing glasses, (Matt claimed that the nosepiece bothered him). All signs that Matt had been worried or near sensory overload or possibly both. 

"I'm really okay, buddy." Foggy had a hand in Matt's hair, something that helped to ground him. Totally normal friend things. It's fine.

Matt drew back from him only to set a hand on his cheek. A weird way to check a pulse, but-

It started with a kiss. 

No, no. It started with Matt kissing him.

Foggy, of course, leaned into it, kissed back because for all he knew, this was some sort of weird, welcome back thing. That didn't make sense, but he didn't care because Matt Murdock is kissing him dammit. 

His brain started to come back together when Matt pulled away, leaving him breathless. "Matty?" 

A forehead pressed against his was the reply he got. 

"Don't leave me, Fog." He looked back up to Matt and almost choked because he made Matt cry again.

Foggy ran a thumb under his eyes to wipe away some of the tears. He shook his head, "I'm not leaving you, Matty. I'm here, I'm here." A pregnant pause and Foggy spoke again, "You don't leave me, either, okay?" 

Matt gave him a gentle nod and that same charming smile from years ago, "I'm here, Fog."

It all started with that smile.

That's when Foggy Nelson fell in love with Matt Murdock.


End file.
